Blog Archive by Date

May 2018

The Canadian Association for the Conservation of Cultural Property (CAC) and the Canadian Association of Professional Conservators (CAPC) invite you to contribute to a nation-wide survey on heritage collection health in Canada. The objective of this survey is to collect data that can be used for advocacy campaigns, fundraising, programming or planning by a variety of associations and organizations.

Similar to the US Heritage Health Index (2005), which led to many great initiatives and injection of capital in various collections care projects, this initiative is needed in Canada to promote awareness of heritage conservation at local, provincial, and federal levels, and to encourage the creation of new legislation, policies and funding programs.

Who should answer this survey: Staff from museums, libraries, archives, art galleries or cultural centres with heritage collections that are accessible to the public. Only one response per institution please. The respondent should be familiar with the collection and facilities, and be able to obtain basic financial and staffing information.

Follow this link to answer the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/C9FK7NR. It is 30 questions in length, and should only take 15-30 minutes to complete – a small time commitment to make an impact! Once you’ve completed the survey, share a post to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with #caringforcanadiancollections. The survey will close July 20, 2018, so don’t miss your chance to be a part of the Canadian Collections Care Survey!

The survey results will be shared later in 2018 on the CAC and CAPC websites.

Public release of the2017 Report on the Government of Canada Survey of Heritage Institutions

The Department of Canadian Heritage has released the 2017 report on theGovernment of Canada Survey of Heritage Institutions (GCSHI), which collected financial and operating information for the 2015 data year as well as building and capital infrastructure information for the 2017 data year on not-for-profit heritage institutions, including museums, art galleries, archives, historic sites, zoos and botanical gardens.

The BCMA was pleased to help promote the survey last year and along with the Department of Canadian Heritage we want to thank everyone who took the time to respond to the 2017 survey. Your input contributed to making the survey a success. The statistics collected through the survey are invaluable as we work collectively to advocate for the sector.

National highlights from the survey include:

Museums and other heritage institutions in Canada generate over $2.5B in revenue.

Attendance to all heritage institutions reached a record 75.3 million in 2015.

There were over 203 million online visits to heritage institutions in Canada in 2015.

Heritage institutions received approximately 1.2 million research requests in 2015.

The heritage sector employs more than 36,300 people.

The heritage workforce is made up of more females (66%) than males (34%).

4% of heritage workers self-identify as a visible minority.

Over 115,650 volunteers contributed over 6.6 million volunteer hours in 2015 (the equivalent of 3,200 full-time positions).

Nearly 38% of all heritage institutions stated that their buildings and capital infrastructure are less than adequate.

Please take a moment to discover some of the latest results from the 2017 GCSHI report HERE.

BCMA looks forward to working with Canadian Heritage to analyze BC data from the survey and we will share those highlights soon.

The BC Museums Association Secretariat is located on the traditional lands of the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations.
We are grateful for the opportunity to live and learn here in mutual respect and appreciation.

Our Sponsors

We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Province of British Columbia

We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of the Royal BC Museum in providing a home for the BCMA secretariat.